Philippines Trade August 2017

Philippines: Exports growth continues unabated in August

October 11, 2017

Philippine exports continued to expand robustly in August, mainly on the back of stronger demand from Hong Kong and the United States, more than offsetting weaker demand from Japan and Singapore; exports to China remained virtually unchanged. Exports expanded by an annual rate of 9.4%, which represented a slight softening from July’s 11.4% increase. August’s result reflected a notable acceleration in the growth of manufactured products as well as a jump in exports of mineral products.

Exports of manufactured products grew 5.4% in August compared to the same month of the last year, below the 8.7% expansion recorded in July. Exports of electronic products, which are classified as a sub-category of manufactured goods and account for the largest share of total export revenues, increased 3.5% in August, well below July’s 11.8% expansion. Lastly, growth in exports of agro-based products jumped from 3.8% in July to 32.6% in August. In terms of specific products, the expansion in exports was strongly driven by robust increases in higher sales of gold, machinery and transport equipment, electronic equipment and parts, coconut oil and metal components.

In August, imports swung to a 11.5% expansion from the previous month’s 3.2% decline. The trade balance in August consequently worsened and recorded a USD 2.4 billion deficit, widening both from July’s USD 1.6 billion deficit and the USD 2.1 billion deficit recorded in August 2016.

Met the why particular Consensus Forecast panelists see exports expanding 3.7% in 2017 and 8.1% in 2018. Panelists expect a trade deficit of USD 23.3 billion in 2017 and see it widening to USD 25.7 billion in 2018.

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Philippines Economic News

Philippine exports continued to expand in October, mainly on the back of surging demand from Hong Kong and stronger overseas orders from China and Singapore, more than offsetting weaker demand from Japan and the United States.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose for the third consecutive month, and came in at a nearly one-year high of 54.8 in November, up from 53.7 in October according to a release provided by Nikkei and IHS Markit.